Freedom and growth improve life for everyone. Evidence and the current news.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

US drops in press freedom

The US dropped to 46th in the world in press freedom on World Press Freedom Index 2014, a considerable drop during the reign of our current president.

The index is based on seven criteria: the level of abuses, the extent of pluralism, media independence, the environment and self-censorship,
the legislative framework, transparency and infrastructure. What happened?

Investigative journalist James Risen believes the Index rightly shows the drop in American journalists’ freedoms due to crackdowns on reporters and whistleblowers and the efforts of the Obama administration and the National Security Agency to limit the amount of information America has concerning the “War on Terror” and other subjects.

“I think 2013 will go down in history as the worst year for press freedom in the United States modern history,” James Risen said.

Risen, who has reported for the New York Times since 1998, said he has personally felt some of the backlash of the guarded Obama administration and has seen some of his colleagues suffer repercussions as well.
Rather than pursue journalists, the Obama administration has focused on their sources—the two most scrutinized whistleblowers being Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden.

“We have an administration that came in claiming that it was going to be the most transparent in history when in fact it is one of the most secretive in history, and certainly the most aggressive anti-press administration in modern American history,” Risen said

Did President Obama claim his would be the most transparent administration? Read his words at The White House.The graphic: from Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French). Click to enlarge; it's very large.